LA Rams hopes for OBJ still has a pulse, and a price

The LA Rams were unable to connect this team with any new acquisitions before the NFL Trade Deadline. But there is still hope, at least for the multitude who have been keeping the light on in hoping for the return of free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

The LA Rams, like every NFL team, has a business aspect to it, and a #Ramily aspect to it. If you do not believe that the Rams have a business aspect, just revisit the manner in which the Rams traded veteran defensive lineman Michael Brockers or veteran wide receiver Robert Woods.

But in the same breath, there is a bit of loyalty embedded in this team as well. The Rams traded two valued draft picks to acquire RB Sony Michel, but immediately demoted him to a bench role as soon as second-year running back Cam Akers was medically cleared to play football once more. The Rams have stuck with struggling offensive lineman Bobby Evans through thick and thin, despite the evidence that there is more thin than thick in his performances of late.

LA Rams free agency plans and OBJ

Perhaps no NFL player today has such intimate knowledge of the LA Rams’ split personality of their business platform and #Ramily endearment as that of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. It was OBJ who was the victim of character assassination when the wide receiver was frustrated with the Cleveland Brown’s lack of production from the quarterback position. Suddenly, social media was swimming in stories about the me-first persona of OBJ.

It was the LA Rams who ignored the background noise and invested in signing OBJ. But it was OBJ who signed a team-friendly deal, laden with post-season incentives that could quadruple its value if the LA Rams won the Super Bowl.

And OBJ made sure that would happen, at least until his ACL injury before the half forced him out of the game. At that moment, OBJ learned that the Rams have a business side to the organization as well. His contract expired, he was no longer medically cleared to compete for any NFL teams, and so he was placed on the shelf until he would be healthy enough to play football once more.